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The Marketing Group - Rockies Marketing - Greenwood Village, CO

What is written here is a true account of my experience and not exaggerated; I would like to warn those considering working at 'The Marketing Group'. It is fundamentally a pyramid scheme and deceptive in promises/returns.

I, like everyone else these days, was unemployed and had been searching for a job for a couple of months- no bites. Finally, I came across an ad on monster.com for an entry level marketing position. I called and sent in my resume, and I would thrilled to get a call back about an interview.

I knew something was up when I went in for the first interview. The office has a main reception area with several chairs and a desk where the receptionist/ HR/Accounting (Katie) girl sits. On that desk are several clip boards with interview question sheets. That set off a red flag... how many people could they possibly be hiring? I went in to my interview with a guy named Yeat, and he asked me if I understood what 'outsourced marketing' was and whatever. He then said they would call if I was going to get a second interview. (This company is all about impulse factors- fear of loss, sense of urgency, Jones effect, indifference- and constantly use them on you to keep you in line and interested.)

Big surprise- I got a second interview. This was a group interview with 10-12 other guys. All of the 'Leaders' came to meet us, and everyone was talking about how much they loved the job. (Turns out anyone caught 'negging out' others is called a 'cancer' and fired.) I was intrigued by everyones positive attitude, and they took us into a little room to explain the business. There was a lot of emphasis on the money aspect, which after being unemployed looked really good. They said they would tell us who would be invited back for the third and final interview via phone call later that day.

Another big surprise- I got a third interview. I really liked the guy they sent me out with... but the next thing I knew we took an hour drive to a city outside of Denver, and we were walking the streets going door to door asking for people's phone bills. I guess Quest has a contract with Cydcor where employees of the Marketing Group pretend to be Quest agents doing 'account reviews' when actually you are trying to upgrade their services and get them on to 3- year terms... Quest pays you commission for everything you upgrade. The process looked pretty easy, my trainer made money, and the woman he helped actually saved a bunch of money... so I thought well, it's a job and took it.

What a mistake. I was told the hours would be from 9-5.... they are more like 7-6:30 everyday. I had to be in at 7:30 for training and once I made 'Leadership' (finished training...earned over 200 dollar 3 days in a row) I had to be in at 7 for individual meetings. The company is basically a pyramid scheme. Every individual theoretically wants to be an 'Owner' to be an owner a person has to complete training and become a Leader, recruit and train five other Leaders, and act as Assistant Manager until being 'promoted out'.

It is a sweat shop. They have to hired enormous amounts of people because so many quit/get fired. There are no benefits, pay is 100% commission, and you have to spend your own money on gas! It is not a marketing position... it is door-to-door sales. The company feed off of recent graduates, the unemployed, and those desperate to make a career change. It is really sad how they take advantage of desperate people.

The office is filled with folding chairs and cheap white boards stuck on with double-sided tape. If there is anything nice for the employees- like breakfast in the morning- it's the employees who are responsible for buying and bringing in the food.

Point being... don't waste you time. I don't know how legal this whole operation is.. but from purely an advise standpoint... the whole business is deceptive to the employees and to the businesses you see everyday. You will never go home thinking you did anything important... and after a 12 hour day... you wont have time or energy for anything else. Don't bother with The Marketing Group and Cydcor... obviously I am not the first one to complain.

5 comments:

Do you know if Scott Marketing group is affliated with the marketing group?

What you just described in that 1st interview is exactly what I saw in mine. I just came back from an interview with Scott Marketing Group, Inc. based in Greenville SC. Formerly based in ATL under a diferent name I believe. In my interview the guy mentioned mostly phone companies as their clients stating that AT@T was their biggest client. He went on to discuss that my job would consist of about 60% retaining existing clients for AT@t and 40% getting new clients.

Like you, I was skeptical the minute I walked in. There was a receptionist in one room with benches and she had clip boards for people to fill out. I did not get the idea that they were offering me a great job and that the turnover there must be high. I also picked up on how unprofessional the environment seemed.

They called me back at 3:00 today for a 2nd interview of which is going to go from 7:30 until 4 where I am with an associate to see what they do.

The Greenwood, CO alias is now being routed through ads for Tech Jobs in Maclean, VA. If you get see a Tech or get a IT or Tech Systems offer, especially if you have not specified having those skills, and it's from Maclean, VA, check the IP address via one of the many IP checker websites. When I did this, Guess where the IP was ACTUALLY located?

This is the same deal with Entertainment Marketing too off 7475 South Dakin St Denver, CO off of Pecos St in that PIMA Institute Building... they basically ask on your intial appearance in this form if you have a form of transportation and the office is soo small and the manager of that office seemed to be some cocky guy named Shaun and his assistant Emily when I called to say hey I dont think I want to come in for the job shadow after I said you guys are a big scam and why are people saying shit about you online she just said were part of this "well business bureau" and I was like seriously you must have made this up... my suggestion is try indeed.com look for the companies and check out their site and match up who they work with and their location before you go there and it doesnt hurt to see if there are any reports of these companies like "Entertainment Marketing and The Marketing Group" and the entry level scams... especially with the economy being the way it is and getting feedback that fast doesn't seem right... so if you know something is not right chances are you got the right idea... just do your own research before u put your info with these scam artists

I actually got called back from The Marketing Group saying they loved my resume and wanted to schedule an interview, I too an unemployed man looking for work agreed for an interview. I am supposed to go in for the interview tomorrow at 4pm, but after reading this, I will not be attending. Thank you co much for writing this review before me, it has saved me a lot of time and nerves because scams like this just piss me the fcuk off. That is exactly what they are doing, they are taking advantage of honest working men and women. I may even send an email to Tom Martino, Colorados #1 trouble shooter LOL and have him light a fire under their ass..

i dont know if its only aplicable in colorado but the better business bureau here is a scam in its self. to get on their list of preferred companies, you have to jump thru hoops and in the end shell out about 10,000$ in fees. i worked 4 a company on the BBB prefered employers list, the owner and managers were indicted for fraud and rakateering less than a year later and the place was closed. BBB= Bullshit!!!